City of Nashua
Office of the Chief Financial Officer
229 Main Street - Nashua, NH 03060 (603) $89-3171
Fax (603) $89-3233
To: Mayor Jim Donchess and Members of the Board of Aldermen
From John L. Griffin, Chief Financial Officer
Date: November 13, 2018
Re: Assessing Department Information
The purpose of this communication is to provide information related to a letter you received from
Mr. and Mrs. Ortolano of 41 Berkeley Street dated October 23, 2018 Rev. 2. In my position as
Chief Financial Officer, I have administrative oversight over the Assessing Department and am
open to exploring all suggestions to provide an even more efficient and effective operation.
The Board of Assessors is empowered by the City Charter and guided by State Statutes,
Department of Revenue Administrative Rules and local legislation. This board is ultimately
responsible for all assessments in the City of Nashua and must review all applications for
abatement.
The State of New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (NH DRA) reviews and
monitors the City of Nashua’s Assessing Department. Their most recent review dated June 6,
2018 was very favorable as to the work produced by the Assessing Department.
Several of City staff have met with and/or have had conversations with Mrs. Ortolano including
the Mayor, Chief of Staff, Corporation Counsel, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer/Collector,
Chief Assessor and several members of the Assessing Department. I have also been informed by
the principals of KRT Appraisal that they have spoken with Mrs. Ortolano. KRT Appraisal is the
firm retained by the City of Nashua to conduct the 2018 Revaluation.
As part of their letter, the Ortolano’s expressed the following concerns numbered 1 through 9. I
offer a response after each concern.
1. Permitted work does not appear to be consistently recorded.
Response: A review of the first four properties on Appendix 1 demonstrates that this
conclusion could be inaccurate.
12 Berkeley Street - Home never assessed ~ has stayed at an assessed value of $243.9K
for 8 years.
The property was assessed at a value of $291,900 until 2013. In 2013 the assessment was
reduced to $243,400 as part of a citywide Revaluation. Property values during this time
generally went down as a result of the recession in 2009.
